Pedals offer a lot of opportunities for DIY projects. One of the coolest and easiest is removing the LED clipping diodes in a modern overdrive pedal and replacing them with old-school-sounding germanium ones. The result will be a more raw, aggressive tone. For this project, I used the popular and affordable EarthQuaker Devices Plumes ($99 street). Whether your version is the original with through-hole-type components or the current model with surface-mount components, you’ll easily be able to perform this mod because both versions contain through-hole-type LEDs.
Tools Required
These tools and supplies are available online. StewMac, for example, sells soldering irons, a desoldering pump, and other tools for instrument work, while nut drivers and germanium diodes can be acquired via a number of sources, including Amazon.
• Soldering iron
• Solder
• Desoldering pump
• No. 2 Phillips-head screwdriver
• Small flathead screwdriver
• 8 mm (5/16") nut driver/wrench
• 10 mm (25/64") nut driver/wrench
• 11 mm (7/16") nut driver/wrench
• 14 mm(9/16") wrench
• Flush cutters
• Small needle-nose pliers
• Germanium diodes
Step 1: Remove back cover.
Using a No. 2 Phillips-head screwdriver, remove the four screws holding the back cover on.
Step 2: Remove external hardware.
The fastest way to swap diodes may be to do it from the component side, without even removing the circuit board from the enclosure. But for easier access and less difficulty, I’m going to remove the entire printed circuit board (PCB) from the enclosure. Since almost everything is mounted directly to the PCB, this should be easy.
Using a small flathead screwdriver, remove the knobs from the potentiometer shafts. Only loosen the knob set screws enough to slide the knobs off. No need to be searching the floor for tiny screws.
Next, using an 8 mm (5/16") nut driver or wrench, remove the nut from the toggle switch. Then, using a 10 mm (25/64”) nut driver or wrench, remove the three nuts and washers from the potentiometers.
Photo 1
For the last piece of external hardware located on the face—the footswitch—we’ll actually want to go inside and disconnect its plug from the board.
On the bottom left side of the PCB, there will be a white rectangular connector. We need to unplug the female end from the male end. This is where small needle-nose pliers can help. A small screwdriver or even fingers may do the trick, too. Finesse is key. We don’t want to break the wires from the female connector.
Photo 2
Once dislocated, we can go back to the face and remove the footswitch using a 14 mm (9/16") wrench.
Step 3: Remove external hardware on the back heel.
The last external hardware to remove is the audio jack bushings.
Photo 3
Removing these will allow the PCB to slide out of the enclosure. Using an 11mm (7/16") nut driver or wrench, remove the bushings and beveled washers from the audio jacks. Now, the circuit board is free to be removed from the enclosure.
Step 4: Remove the PCB from the enclosure.
The four controls and two audio jacks that interface with the enclosure may create some resistance when trying to remove the PCB. Typically, it’s from the collars of the audio jacks. Using a small screwdriver in one of the top corners and gently prying the PCB back usually does the trick.
Photo 4
Step 5: Locating the clipping LEDs.
Now that the PCB is removed from the enclosure, we need to locate the clipping LEDs from the top side. They are the two small red silos at the center of the pedal.
Photo 5
Then, we need to locate the pads (the exposed metal on the PCB) for them on the bottom side, and, once again, they are centrally located.
Photo 6
Step 6: Removing the clipping LEDs.
Now that we’ve located the LEDs, let’s go ahead and remove them. Quick note: The Plumes I worked on was a new unit consisting primarily of surface mount device (SMD) components. The LEDs are located between the pots and switch, so they can be difficult to access from the bottom side. The easiest way to remove the LEDs is to actually snip them from the top side, after noting how they are soldered in place.
Photo 7
We’re not planning on using them, and they’re cheap enough to purchase again, so breaking them is no worry. We just need to be sure not to damage any of the nearby components. The best approach may be to break the shell/bulb of the LEDs. Doing this will expose the two leads.
Photo 8
With these two leads exposed, we can easily remove each lead from the solder pads on the top side. Let’s apply heat to each pad and remove the leads with small needle-nose pliers. Jump to the alternate approach section in step seven if you experience solder removal difficulties. (Quick tips: Existing solder tends to flow better when a bit of fresh solder is applied to it. You’ll also want to heat the lead/pad and then grab the lead with the pliers. Grabbing the lead with the pliers first will take longer because the heat will transfer to the metal of the pliers. Don’t apply heat to a solder pad longer than needed. Doing this can compromise the pad.)
Once the leads are removed, we need to remove the remaining solder from the pads. This is where the desoldering pump (commonly referred to as a “solder sucker”) comes in. Apply a bit of fresh solder to the pads and remove it using the pump. YouTube is your friend here, for some quick desoldering pump lessons.
Step 7: Adding germanium diodes.
Check the polarity of the diode. For this mod, I chose 1n34a diodes, which are very common and available on Amazon. These diodes are polarized and have a positive and negative side. On the 1n34a, the negative lead is designated by the black band that wraps around the body of the diode (this is not the case for all germanium diodes). On PCBs, square pads denote positive. However, for the diode package that we’re adding, the square pad is negative.
Photo 9
Using Photo 10 for reference, gently bend one of the diode legs so that it’s parallel with the body of the diode. Place the bent legs into their correct pads—the negative side of the diode will go into the square pad and the positive into the circlular pad. Solder the pads from the bottom side of the PCB and snip the excess leg length with a pair of flush cutters. The excess leg length can also be removed with needle-nose pliers by bending the legs back and forth several times.
Photo 10
Alternate approach: If you’re experiencing trouble getting the remaining solder out of each pad, there’s a different approach to try. This approach may actually be helpful for this particular mod, because the pad spacing is small. If a pad connects to a ground plane (a layer of copper typically the size of the entire PCB that connects directly to the main ground pin on the DC jack) or several locations (other components in the schematic) it will require more heat because the applied heat wants to travel to all the connected areas. Typically, with clipping diodes, only one pad will experience this and give desoldering difficulties. In such a case, follow these steps:
1. Establish which pad has remaining solder. For this mod, the square pads are the positive pads, because they hosted LEDs. The diodes we’re adding want to have the negative side go into the square pad.
2. Cut the negative side of the germanium diode lead down to about 5 mm length. The negative side on the 1n34a is the lead closest to the black line indicator seen in Photo 9.
3. Heat the pad that has remaining solder in it and drop the short side lead into the solder.
4. Bend the other lead over like a horseshoe and mate it with the desoldered pad. (See Photo 10)
5. Solder the second side.
6. Repeat for the second diode, keeping in mind that the polarity of the diode needs to be opposite of the first diode that we soldered in as seen in Photo 11.
Photo 11
Step 8: Test.
Before putting everything back together, plugging the unit in as-is can be helpful. This way, if it isn’t working, we can go back and look at solder joints and any potential issues.
Photo 12
Step 9: Put everything back together.
Simply reverse the disassembly steps and enjoy!
A final note: If you love DIY projects or are interested in learning pedal design, my company, CopperSound, has a DIY section on its website, which also includes links to other DIY dealers. We offer integrated breadboards, component substitution boxes, adaptors for toggle switches, and even solder dispensers. For more information, please check out coppersoundpedals.com/DIY
Onstage, Tommy Emmanuel executes a move that is not from the playbook of his hero, Chet Atkins.
“My biggest decision every day on tour is, ‘What do I want to start with? How do I want to come out of the gate?’” Emmanuel explains to me over a video call. “A good opener has to have everything. It has to be full of surprise, it has to have lots of good ideas, lots of light and shade, and then, hit it again,” he says, illustrating each phrase with his hands and ending with a punch.“You lift off straightaway with the first song, you get airborne, you start reaching, and then it’s time to level out and take people on a journey.”
In May 2023, Emmanuel played two shows at the Sydney Opera House, the best performances from which have been combined on his new release, Live at the Sydney Opera House. The venue’s Concert Hall, which has a capacity of 2,679, is a familiar room for Emmanuel, but I think at this point in his career he wouldn’t bring a setlist if he was playing Wembley Stadium. On the recording, Emmanuel’s mind-blowingly dexterous chops, distinctive attack and flair, and knack for culturally resonant compositions are on full display. His opening song for the shows? An original, “Countrywide,” with a segue into Chet Atkins’ “El Vaquero.”
“When I was going to high school in the ’60s, I heard ‘El Vaquero’ on Chet Atkins’ record, [1964’s My Favorite Guitars],” Emmanuel shares. “And when I wrote ‘Countrywide’ in around ’76 or ’77, I suddenly realized, ‘Ah! It’s a bit like “El Vaquero!”’ So I then worked out ‘El Vaquero’ as a solo piece, because it wasn’t recorded like that [by Atkins originally].
“The co-writer of ‘El Vaquero’ is Wayne Moss, who’s a famous Nashville session guy who played ‘da da da’ [sings the guitar riff from Roy Orbison’s ‘Pretty Woman’]. And he played on a lot of Chet’s records as a rhythm guy. So once when I played ‘El Vaquero’ live, Wayne Moss came up to me and said, ‘You know, you did my part and Chet’s at the same time. That’s not fair!’” Emmanuel says, laughing.
Atkins is the reason Emmanuel got into performing. His mother had been teaching him rhythm guitar for a couple years when he heard Atkins on the radio and, at 6, was able to immediately mimic his fingerpicking technique. His father recognized Emmanuel’s prodigious talent and got him on the road that year, which kicked off his professional career. He says, “By the time I was 6, I was already sleep-deprived, working too hard, and being forced to be educated. Because all I was interested in was playing music.”
Emmanuel talks about Atkins as if the way he viewed him as a boy hasn’t changed. The title Atkins bestowed upon him, C.G.P. (Certified Guitar Player), appears on Emmanuel’s album covers, in his record label (C.G.P. Sounds), and is inlaid at the 12th fret on his Maton Custom Shop TE Personal signature acoustic. (Atkins named only five guitarists C.G.P.s. The others are John Knowles, Steve Wariner, Jerry Reed, and Atkins himself.) For Emmanuel, even today most roads lead to Atkins.
When I ask Emmanuel about his approach to arranging for solo acoustic guitar, he says, “It was really hit home for me by my hero, Chet Atkins, when I read an interview with him a long time ago and he said, ‘Make your arrangement interesting.’ And I thought, ‘Wow!’ Because I was so keen to be true to the composer and play the song as everyone knows it. But then again, I’m recreating it like everyone else has, and I might as well get in line with the rest of them and jump off the cliff into nowhere. So it struck me: ‘How can I make my arrangements interesting?’ Well, make them full of surprises.”
When Emmanuel was invited to contribute to 2015’s Burt Bacharach: This Guitar’s in Love with You, featuring acoustic-guitar tributes to Bacharach’s classic compositions by various artists, Emmanuel expresses that nobody wanted to take “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” due to its “syrupy” nature. But for Emmanuel, this presented an entertaining challenge.
He explains, “I thought, ‘Okay, how can I reboot “Close to You?’ So even the most jaded listener will say, ‘Holy fuck—I didn’t expect that! Wow, I really like that; that is a good melody!’ So I found a good key to play the song in, which allowed me to get some open notes that sustain while I move the chords. Then what I did is, in every phrase, I made the chord unresolve, then resolve.
Tommy Emmanuel's Gear
“I’m writing music for the film that’s in my head,” Emmanuel says. “So, I don’t think, ‘I’m just the guitar,’ ever.”
Photo by Simone Cecchetti
Guitars
- Three Maton Custom Shop TE Personals, each with an AP5 PRO pickup system
Amps
- Udo Roesner Da Capo 75
Effects
- AER Pocket Tools preamp
Strings & Picks
- Martin TE Signature Phosphor Bronze (.012–.054)
- Martin SP strings
- Ernie Ball Paradigm strings
- D’Andrea Pro Plec 1.5 mm
- Dunlop medium thumbpicks
“And then to really put the nail in the coffin, at the end, ‘Close to you’ [sings melody]. I finished on a major 9 chord which had that note in it, but it wasn’t the key the song was in, which is a typical Stevie Wonder trick. All the tricks I know, the wonderful ideas that I’ve stolen, are from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, James Taylor, Carole King, Neil Diamond. All of the people who wrote really incredibly great pop songs and R&B music—I stole every idea I could, and I tried to make my little two-and-a -half minutes as interesting and entertaining as possible. Because entertainment equals: Surprise me.”
I share with Emmanuel that the performances on Live at the Sydney Opera House, which include his popular “Beatles Medley,” reminded me of another possible arrangement trick. In Harpo Marx’s autobiography, Harpo Speaks, I preface, Marx writes of a lesson he learned as a performer—to “answer the audience’s questions.” (Emmanuel says he’s a big fan of the book and read it in the early ’70s.) That happened for me while listening to the medley, when, after sampling melodies from “She’s a Woman” and “Please Please Me,” Emmanuel suddenly lands on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
I say, “I’m waiting for something that hits more recognizably to me, and when ‘While My Guitar’ comes in, that’s like answering my question.”
“It’s also Paul and John, Paul and John, George,” Emmanuel replies. “You think, ‘That’s great, that’s great pop music,’ then, ‘Wow! Look at the depth of this.’”
Often Emmanuel’s flights on his acoustic guitar are seemingly superhuman—as well as supremely entertaining.
Photo by Ekaterina Gorbacheva
A trick I like to employ as a writer, I say to Emmanuel, is that when I’m describing something, I’ll provide the reader with just enough context so that they can complete the thought on their own.
“You can do that musically as well,” says Emmanuel. He explains how, in his arrangement of “What a Wonderful World,” he’ll play only the vocal melody. “When people are asking me at a workshop, ‘How come you don’t put chords behind that part?’ I say, ‘I’m drawing the melody and you’re putting in all the background in your head. I don’t need to tell you what the chords are. You already know what the chords are.’”
“Wayne Moss came up to me and said, ‘You know, you did my part and Chet’s at the same time. That’s not fair!’”
Another track featured on Live at the Sydney Opera House is a cover of Paul Simon’s “American Tune” (which Emmanuel then jumps into an adaptation of the Australian bush ballad, “Waltzing Matilda”). It’s been a while since I really spent time with There GoesRhymin’ Simon (on which “American Tune” was first released), and yet it sounded so familiar to me. A little digging revealed that its melody is based on the 17th-century Christian hymn, “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” which was arranged and repurposed by Bach in a few of the composer’s works. The cross-chronological and genre-lackadaisical intersections that come up in popular music sometimes is fascinating.
“I think the principle right there,” Emmanuel muses, “is people like Bach and Beethoven and Mozart found the right language to touch the heart of a human being through their ears and through their senses ... that really did something to them deep in their soul. They found a way with the right chords and the right notes, somehow. It could be as primitive as that.
Tommy Emmanuel has been on the road as a performing guitarist for 64 years. Eat your heart out, Bob Dylan.
Photo by Jan Anderson
“It’s like when you’re a young composer and someone tells you, ‘Have a listen to Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind,”’ he continues. “‘Listen to how those notes work with those chords.’ And every time you hear it, you go, ‘Why does it touch me like that? Why do I feel this way when I hear those chords—those notes against those chords?’ I say, it’s just human nature. Then you wanna go, ‘How can I do that!’” he concludes with a grin.
“You draw from such a variety of genres in your arrangements,” I posit. “Do you try to lean into the side of converting those songs to solo acoustic guitar, or the side of bridging the genre’s culture to that of your audience?”
“I stole every idea I could, and I tried to make my little two-and-a-half minutes as interesting and entertaining as possible. Because entertainment equals: Surprise me.”
“If I was a method actor,” Emmanuel explains, “what I’m doing is—I’m writing music for the film that’s in my head. So, I don’t think, ‘I’m just the guitar,’ ever. I always think it has to have that kind of orchestral, not grandeur, but … palette to it. Because of the influence of Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and Elton John, especially—the piano guys—I try to use piano ideas, like putting the third in the low bass a lot, because guitar players don’t necessarily do that. And I try to always do something that makes what I do different.
“I want to be different and recognizable,” he continues. “I remember when people talked about how some players—you just hear one note and you go, ‘Oh, that’s Chet Atkins.’ And it hit me like a train, the reason why a guy like Hank Marvin, the lead guitar player from the Shadows.... I can tell you: He had a tone that I hear in other players now. Everyone copied him—they just don’t know it—including Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, all those people. I got him up to play with me a few times when he moved to Australia, and even playing acoustic, he still had that sound. I don’t know how he did it, but it was him. He invented himself.”
YouTube It
Emmanuel performs his arrangement of “What a Wonderful World,” illustrating how omitting a harmonic backdrop can have a more powerful effect, especially when playing such a well-known melody.
Gary is not exclusively a destruction machine. Its distortion/overdrive section is a very streamlined take on EarthQuaker’s Gray Channel, a versatile DOD 250-derived double distortion. Like any good circuit of the 250 ilk, Gary’s hard clipping OD/distortion section bites viciously in the high- and high-mid frequencies, supported by a tight, punchy low-mid output. You can play anything from balanced M.O.R. studio crunch to unhinged feedback leads with this side of Gary. But it’s the envelope-triggered pulse-width fuzz—which most of us will hear as a gated fuzz, in many instances—that gives the Gary its werewolf duality. Though practice yields performance patterns that change depending on the instrument and effects you use around the Gary, its fuzz ultimately sputters and collapses into nothingness—especially when you throw a few pitch bends its way. The cut to silence can be jarring, but also compels a player to explore more rhythmic leads and choppy riffs that would sound like sludge with a Big Muff. The Gary’s unpredictable side means it won’t be for everybody, but its ability to span delicioso distortion and riotous splatter fuzz in a single unit is impressive.
EarthQuaker Devices Gary Automatic Pulse Width Modulation Fuzz/Overdrive Pedal
